Have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing or closely related field from an accredited institution recognized by the United States Department of Education for admission to the MSN curriculum. Students with a Bachelor of Science degree in a field other than Nursing will be required to verify course work or experience in undergraduate research, leadership/management, and public/community health. If course work is required, the student may be admitted to the program, but must complete the additional course requirements before starting the MSN core courses.

Submit the required official Bachelor’s degree transcript from institutions recognized prior to the end of add/drop period of the first term. Nurses who have received a bachelor's degree from a U.S. institution in another discipline are eligible to apply.

An undergraduate cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher is required. Applicants with an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.7 to 2.99 may be considered for admission on probation, but must achieve a B (3.0) or better in the first 9 credits in the program to be removed from probation.

Applicants submitting non-U.S. or non-English transcripts should refer to the International Admissions section of the catalog.

Provide proof of current unobstructed professional licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the United States

Students awaiting their licensure exam may be admitted if they meet all other admissions criteria but must show proof of licensure prior to entering the third trimester of the program *

Completion of an introductory Statistics course with a grade of “C” or better, equivalent to MATH 211(Applied Statistics). Applicants who have not taken an introductory statistics class may take MATH 211 at WCU as part of their MSN program (must be taken prior to the Research class).

FNP online applicants can transfer any or all three of the APRN courses; Advanced Pathophysiology (NURS530), Advanced Pharmacology (NURS676), and Advanced Physical Assessment (NURS680). Due to the importance of the content of these courses, they can only be transferred under the following conditions;

Courses must be taken within three (3) years prior to starting the FNP online courses. If more than three years has elapsed since these courses have been taken, the student will need to repeat them.

All students who have taken Advanced Physical Assessment within three years will also need to pass an OSCE – Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation, on campus, performed in the presence of the FNP faculty, to assess their readiness to begin the clinical rotations in the FNP track. A written exam covering health assessment content will also be administered at this time.

All Students who have taken Advanced Pharmacology within three years, without the BRN approved prescriptive authority, will need to take and pass the “45‐Hour Advanced Pharmacology Course” provided by Barkley & Associates, Inc. in order to transfer those credits.

One year of direct patient care nursing experience within the past five years is preferred, except for the FNP track which requires one year of full time experience in direct care prior to entering FNP core classes.

*All students must have a current and unobstructed license in the United States prior to entering the third trimester of the program; an unobstructed license is required for degree completion and will be verified again prior to entering the practicum course. Failure to present a valid RN license will result in dismissal from the university until such time license is current and unobstructed.

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Only graduate level courses in which a grade of B (3.0) or better was received, taken in a nursing program will be evaluated for transfer credit. A maximum of six (6) credit hours will be considered for transfer, and must reflect the same content and course credit as the course for which transfer credit is requested.